# How do Asian women scotch tape their eyelids to make them look round?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 18, 2001, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257 "2001-10-18T17:45:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynic)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2001, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/1 "2001-10-18T17:45:40Z")
What exactly is the procedure by which some Asian women apply tape to their eyelids to make them appear more round (in lieu of surgery)? I’m imagining that they would stick the tape on the upper eyelid, apply a little tension, then fasten it to the area just below the eyebrow and cover everything with makeup. But this doesn’t seem like it would work, as the tape would be visible and it would interfere with blinking. How do they do it?
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2001, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/2 "2001-10-18T19:02:30Z")
You’re getting lots of views here but no replies, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask for a self-answering cite for this practice. I’ve never heard of it.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/3 "2001-10-18T19:25:14Z")
You sure it was tape and not [cosmetic surgery](http://www.lamblaserclinic.com/asian_double_eyelid_surgery.html)?
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### Author:  [@phartizan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phartizan)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2001, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/4 "2001-10-18T19:38:34Z")
I’ve spent plenty of time in East Asia, but I’ve never seen this. I’d like a cite, too. Even though it sounds pretty strange, it would be cheaper than surgery.
BTW, what they want is not [“round”](http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/tanaka/other_APA/slanted_eyes.txt) eyes. They want to reduce the pronounced epicanthic fold that makes it look as if they have a “single eyelid”. Many [prefer](http://www.digitaljayhawk.org/kuedge/j415/415_projects/sherwood_m/pagetwo.html) the “double eyelid” look (what a lot of Americans call “round eyes”). Some East Asians are born with it.
No wonder my (Euro-ancestry) mother once claimed my Chinese wife looked [cross-eyed](http://www.surgerydoor.co.uk/medcon/detail2.asp?level2=Squint%20and%20Double%20Vision).
Also, [Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/otheroutlets/motsdindex.html) apparently has something about epicanthic folds. Buy the book!
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2001, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/5 "2001-10-18T19:52:55Z")
Here’s an [article](http://www.mgnj.org/droopy_eyelids.htm) about medical uses for cosmetic eyelid tape that has some instructions and pictures.
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### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2001, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/6 "2001-10-18T22:41:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by phartizan \*
> \*\*
> BTW, what they want is not [“round”](http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/tanaka/other_APA/slanted_eyes.txt) eyes. They want to reduce the pronounced epicanthic fold that makes it look as if they have a “single eyelid”. Many [prefer](http://www.digitaljayhawk.org/kuedge/j415/415_projects/sherwood_m/pagetwo.html) the “double eyelid” look (what a lot of Americans call “round eyes”). Some East Asians are born with it.
> \*\*
It’s a matter of fashion. A hundred years ago in many Asian countries, the “single eyelid” look was considered the height of beauty. These days, the women want to avoid it. I guess it’s similar to Western ideals changing from a Reubenesque figure to skinny-as-a-rake. The current fashion in Asia is for the Western look. Some Asian women I know have had nose jobs and breast enhancements (my Vietnamese Girlfiend wants both but I’m trying to talk her out of it).
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### Author:  [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2001, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/7 "2001-10-18T23:41:56Z")
I’ve heard of this, and I think my mother either knew girls who did this or did this herself. :eek: I’m not sure exactly how they did it, but I have a good guess.
Take a piece of Scotch tape, about an inch and a half long or however wide your eye is. Cut it so that it’s about an eighth or quarter inch wide. Close the eye you want to work on. Now, stick that piece of tape along your eyelid, along your eyelash line. When you open your eye, the eyelid should fold over itself, giving the appearance of a double eyelid.
Don’t look at me-- I think it’s weird, too. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Mortish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortish)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2001, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/8 "2001-10-19T02:57:02Z")
I know there is some sort of a paste/glue. I saw a show on tv about beauty and it showed an Asian woman applying a glue-type product in order to create a more pronounced fold in her eyelid. . .
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### Author:  [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2001, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/9 "2001-10-20T07:44:15Z")
So who has double eyelids? and Who has single eyelids? I’m confused.
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### Author:  [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2001, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/10 "2001-10-20T10:04:38Z")
my kid sister has double eyelids, and people go up to her and compliment her on them. i don’t, so i’m mostly unnoticed. go figure…
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### Author:  [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2001, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/11 "2001-10-20T15:41:43Z")
Having read this thread yesterday, I asked **Astrogirl** (who is WAY Korean, and into the Korean fashions about looking westernized) about it.
She had never heard of such a thing. Lots of Korean girls have plastic surgery to create a false “double eyelid” (and it often ends up looking horrible, BTW), but we’ve never heard of any tape or glue…
FTR: **Astrogirl** has never had any plastic surgery, and has one “double eyelid” and one single eyelid. I like both! If she asked me to choose between them, I’d be at a loss…
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### Author:  [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2001, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/12 "2001-10-20T23:39:34Z")
I should add that my mom said girls did this when she was a teenager. That means this sort of thing would have been popular in the mid to late 60s. I imagine the practice died a merciful death sometime during the 70s. I’ve never seen a girl with tape on her eyelids, and you can be sure that if there ever was a girl who did that today, she’d get plenty of strange looks.
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### Author:  [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/13 "2001-10-21T04:15:37Z")
It seems many races want to emulate whites. Filipinos, for instance, want to be lighter-skinned. All of their TV stars and movie stars are light-skinned. Some even bleach their skin.
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### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/14 "2001-10-21T04:45:01Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by HubZilla \*
> \*\*It seems many races want to emulate whites. Filipinos, for instance, want to be lighter-skinned. All of their TV stars and movie stars are light-skinned. Some even bleach their skin. \*\*
Whilst this may well be true, from what I understand of the Vietnamese and Thais, rather than actually trying to look Caucasian, a lot of them merely want to look _pale_. This is a class issue. In these hot countries, dark skin is associated with manual or farm work, and fair skin is indicative of a white collar job. In Vietnam, this probably has something to do with the development of the traditional _ao dai_, a loose fitting, flowing garment which covers the whole body. Even here in Australia, at the slightest hint of bright sunlight, many Asian women will be quick to whip out a parasol or a big hat, and they are quite bemused to see the fair skinned Aussie girls (whose colouring they envy) actually _trying_ to get a tan.
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### Author:  [@cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynic)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2001, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-asian-women-scotch-tape-their-eyelids-to-make-them-look-round/88257/15 "2001-10-21T06:27:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by HubZilla \*
> \*\*It seems many races want to emulate whites. Filipinos, for instance, want to be lighter-skinned. All of their TV stars and movie stars are light-skinned. Some even bleach their skin. \*\*
It might not have anything to do with trying to emulate whites. Some studies have shown that large eyes are a universal component to female facial beauty.
[http://www.muohio.edu/~psybersite/attraction/culture.htx](http://www.muohio.edu/~psybersite/attraction/culture.htx)
> [@](#):
>
> Research suggests, however, that there might not be a great deal of variation as to what is attractive among some different cultural groups. A study by Cunningham, Roberts, Barbee, Druen, & Wu (1995) found that Asian, Hispanic, and White judges were strikingly consistent in their judgments of what was attractive: faces with **neonate large eyes** , greater distance between eyes, and small noses; sexually mature, narrower female faces with smaller chins; expressive, higher eyebrows, dilated pupils, larger lower lips, larger smiles and well-groomed, full hair. They also suggested that even with these similarities, the cultural reasons for these preferences may indeed vary dramatically. **A follow up study determined that the degree of exposure to Western culture did not appear to influence ratings of attractiveness**.
If this is correct, using adhesives to create a more pronounced epicanthic fold might not be as strange as it sounds.